Woodgate caps brilliant Spurs fightback in Carling Cup Final

By MATT LAWTON

Last updated at 08:33 25 February 2008

If Jonathan Woodgate moaned about the cost of houses in the south last week, he is unlikely to have too many complaints about London's most expensive property. Woodgate made Wembley his home yesterday, scoring the goal that not only secured a much deserved victory for Tottenham but proved there is method in the apparent madness of Juande Ramos.

It pays not to eat ketchup

and mayonnaise, Tottenham's players

must now appreciate, and not

just in the pounds they shed but in

the currency of trophies.

Precision free-kick: Didier Drogba opens the scoring

Thanks to Ramos and the strict

diet he has imposed on his squad,

those who have lost weight made

Chelsea look like lightweights in this

final. They out-thought, out-fought

and out-ran their much-fancied

opponents, restricting them to so

few chances that it was only in extra-time that they forced Paul Robinson

to make a save from open play.

How much did they say Roman

Abramovich had spent on Chelsea?

Perhaps it was not the best week to

be revealing such figures.

Their performance yesterday

would suggest you do not get much

for £578million these days (don't tell

Woodgate but that is £200m less

than the cost of the stadium he now

adores), just as it demonstrated

that it is better to spend £5m a year

on a Jose Mourinho than the £3m

salary they now pay Avram Grant.

If Grant deserves credit for the way

he stabilised Chelsea in the wake of

Mourinho's sudden departure in

September, his deficiencies were

horribly exposed on this occasion.

Coolly taken: Dimitar Berbatov equalises from the spot

His team selection revealed a

degree of weakness, his substitutions

betrayed an alarming lack of tactical

nous and his failure even to engage

with his players during the brief

interval between normal and

extra-time was just embarrassing. It

was Steve Clarke who delivered the

rousing team talk. Not 'the

manager'.

It was coach Henk Ten Cate who

sprinted on to the pitch the

moment this encounter ended and positioned himself between referee

Martin Halsey and an incensed

Didier Drogba.

The Chelsea striker was less than

impressed with the official's

decision to blow the final whistle

when his team were on the

offensive, having failed to realise

that it was only because

Tottenham's defenders were starting

to celebrate that Salomon

Kalou suddenly found himself with

only Robinson to beat. As Halsey,

and indeed Ten Cate, no doubt

pointed out, Kalou missed anyway,

driving his shot against the post.

Up for the Cup: Jonathan Woodgate scores Spurs' winning goal in the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea